ANTHONY CROLLA came away victorious as he edged out domestic rival Ricky Burns by unanimous decision in their lightweight bout.

Both fighters came into the fight on the back of defeats, with Crolla losing back-to-back WBA title fights with Venezuela’s Jorge Linares while Burns surrendered his WBA light-welterweight belt to Namibian Julius Indongo in April, but produced an absorbing battle at Manchester Arena.

Crolla was the brighter of the two fighters in the early exchanges but 34-year-old Burns worked his way into the bout as they counter-punched each other throughout the 12 rounds in a engaging tactical contest which could have gone either way.

Neither could be separated in the next two rounds with both fighters showing sparks of authority in a tight affair before Burns finally found the overarm right, which brought blood to the nose of the Mancunian.

A burst from the 30-year-old, a regular feature throughout the contest, looked to have edged the eighth but Burns hit back with a left jab that connected on the nose of Crolla in the next, before they continued the final three rounds in counter-punching fashion.

The Englishman believed he did enough to extend his record to 32 wins from his 41 professional fights and is targeting another world title shot.

Great to see! 2 quality fighters and gentlemen leaving at all on the line, well done both @ant_crolla & @ricksterko ????????